“Chimes of Freedom” is a cover by Youssou N’Dour of the song by Bob Dylan (1964) in Wolof. It is also the musical basis for the song Casamança.

Below: Live version for Amnesty International’s “Human Rights Now!” Tour at Wembley Stadium in 1988, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

(From amf.didiermary.fr)

African music pioneer, titan of Nigerian music around the world, mixing highlife and other African styles with American influences, Orlando Julius helped Fela Kuti form his early band Koola Lobitos and collaborated with Hugh Masekela & Lamont Dozier.

Orlando Julius made his debut as a musician in the 1950s in an AfroCuban music group, the Mambo Dance Band, then settled in Ibadan in 1957, a scene dominated by highlife and juju music but also by American and AfroCuban music.

The meeting in 1961 with Ademola Haastrup, aka Jazz Romero, proved pivotal. Orlando Julius initially played drums for the Modupe Dance Band, then specialized in wind instruments, playing alto saxophone, flute, and clarinet, influenced by Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, and John Coltrane.

Orlando Julius then took over the leadership of the group, renamed the Flamingo Dandies Band, offering a repertoire that blended highlife, jazz, blues, calypso, and tango, before experimenting with innovative fusions of R&B, soul, highlife, and juju music. This style, which would become Afrobeat, was experimented with by many musicians on the Nigerian scene, including Tunji Oyelana and a certain Fela Anikulapo Kuti, who recruited musicians from Orlando Julius into his group Koola Lobitos, including Eddie Fayehun, Isiaka Adio, and Ojo Ekeji.

In 1974, Orlando Julius moved to New York and then Washington, D.C., where he formed a new group, Umoja, which opened for Marvin Gaye, the Bar-Kays, Curtis Mayfield, Gil Scott-Heron, and Isaac Hayes. The group also accompanied Hugh Masekela during his time in Washington, D.C., and for the recording of his album, The Boy’s Doin’ It, released in 1975. The Nigerian saxophonist then collaborated with The Crusaders and Lamont Dozier, composing and arranging several tracks for them, incorporating Afrobeat rhythms and Yoruba choirs into their music.

Listen to Disco Hi-Life (1979).
The Story of “Going Back To My Roots.”

Orlando Julius (1943-2022)
Super Afro Soul: the music of Orlando Julius, titan of Nigerian music

Super Afro Soul

In 1966, Philips compiled all of Orlando Julius & his Modern Aces early singles, fusing highlife, jazz, and R&B, under the album Super Afro Soul, adding Kokoma rhythms from Nigeria to these new versions. The track “Ijo Soul,” clearly influenced by James Brown, became one of the album’s standout songs.

Tracklist

00:00 – Mapami
03:03 – Efoye So
06:15 – Ise Owo
09:47 – Solo Hit – (Instrumental) Composed By –Eddy Fayehun
13:20 – Oni Suru
16:33 – Wakalole
20:16 – Ma Fagba Se Ye Ye
23:25 – Bojubari
26:43 – My Girl – Composed By-White,Robinson-Jonny Haastrup
30:08 – Jagua Nana
33:39 – Ijo Soul
36:36 – Topless
39:32 – Olulofe
42:23 – E Se Rere

More music on the next page…

(From amf.didiermary.fr)

At the turn of the 2000s, Cheb Bakr sought to reinterpret the folk sounds of eastern Libya for a new generation, by blending them with contemporary genres.

His albums stood out for their fresh, genre-defying sound—Bakr’s vocals flowed effortlessly over R&B and hip-hop beats with touches of jungle and drum and bass percussion.

#Libya #Rap #Funk

(From amf.didiermary.fr)

Lamisi — one of Ghana’s most popular artists and an activist for the rights of women and girls — has shared the second single from her new album “Let Us Clap” — a collaboration with innovative music producer and auteur Wanlov the Kubolor, which marks a radical reinvention of her sound.

It was a slogan painted onto the back of a public bus in Accra that inspired ‘No Orgasm in Heaven’.
“I like working with funny, open minded people,” says Wanlov, who is also renowned as one half (with M3NSA) of beloved musical pranksters Fokn Bois. “This song has a similar sentiment to ‘No Beer in Heaven’, the 2004 hit by Atongo Zimba. It means enjoy your life now, as heaven is right here.”

(From amf.didiermary.fr)